New Hope
by Floor1998
Summary: Snape goes to Harry Potter his house for a big check up around Harry's 10th birthday, what he didn't expect to find was an abused boy, for whom it's no longer safe to live with his family. Snape decides to take Harry in and offer him the support that Snape was never given. Harry is sent to a special muggle school and therapists. Is Snape going to succeed in helping Harry?
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: Snape goes to Harry's house for a big check up around his 10th birthday and finds an abused boy. He decides to take Harry with him, and offer Harry support that Snape was never given. He sends Harry to a special muggle school and therapists. Is Snape going to succeed in helping Harry? And what unexpected troubles come along the way?_

 **AN: So this is my first fan fiction every. I have been reading a lot of it and came up with some new ideas. I know there are a lot of guardian Snape story's already out there, but I hope to give mine a new touch. I would love if someone would review my story even if you hate it, cause I can still learn from it. I know this chapter is like many else, but I have got some different ideas for the next chapters! Also I am Dutch and do my very best to write everything in perfect English, but can only do my very best.**

Reluctantly Snape left his office, the holidays were almost over which meant that someone had to check up on the Potter boy. When Harry was delivered to the Dursley they (consisting Albus and Minerva) had decided to check on Harry every year and every fifth year of Harry's life they would do a big check up , so they could see if the wards were still intact as well to see if the boy had any questions that the Dursleys could not answer. Since Minevera went last time, and Albus was busy Snape had to go. He apparated to Little Whinings and looked for the house. It wasn't hard to find, cause he had been here already three times for a small check up. He walked to the front door and knocked on the door. Boy open the door, was the shouting of a man he heard coming from the inside.

When the door was opened he could see a little boy , probably around the age of 8. A bit confused by who the door was opened he asked to see Mr. Potter. That's me, the boy answered. Snape felt himself become angry and answered rudely :No time for jokes boy, you are not even his age, now I will let myself in if you are doing nothing anyway. Before the boy could even try to close the door Snape was already inside. He walked into the living room where he saw the rest of the family. They looked stunned for a second at the intruder of their house, but Mr. Dursley quickly recovered. What are you doing here in my house, Mr Dursley asked angry. I am coming to check up on Mr. Potter he calmly replied.

Well get the boy and go and discuss whatever you want to discuss with him in the hallway so we can hear the television. Dudley already didn't pay any attention anymore to Snape, but had his eyes back on the television.

"Where is Mr. Potter if I may ask?"

"Boy! Come here!" Mr. Dursley shouted.

Soon the boy who had opened the door came in.

"There take him."

Snape was stunned that it was the boy who had opened the door, but years of spying had taught him not to show it.

"Aha, I am sorry Mr. Potter, I misjudged you. Well come with me to the hallway."

Once they were in the hallway Snape decided that he wanted a little more privacy and asked for Harry's room. He saw a glance of panic arise on Harry's face and heard some muttering.

"Mr. Potter if you would please speak clearly so I can understand you."

"You are standing in front of my door Sir", Harry said.

Snape turned around and saw he stood in front of a door that led to a cupboard or something.

"Surely this isn't your room?" Snape asked a bit shocked.

"Sorry sir", was Harry's only reply.

At that moment Snape spotted something he hadn't seen when he first saw the boy, he saw some bruises on the top of Harry's arm. He wanted to grab the boy's sleeve to lift it a bit up when the boy flung away. He suddenly put all the pieces together. What had happen to Snape years ago had happen even more severe to Harry. Not even thinking about it a second time he decided to take the boy with him to Hogwarts and ask Albus what to do, cause if he left the boy a minute longer he was surely going to be abused again. In a soft voice Snape started to tell Harry what they were going to do.

"Alright Harry, we are going to apparate to Professor Dumbledore's office and explain the situation."

Snape could see the questions in Harry's eyes, but when he didn't ask anything Snape went on.

"Take all your things with you, because you are not coming back here and wait in the hall way while I am going to talk to your Aunt and Uncle". Snape left the scared child in the hallway and went to the Dursleys and casted a privacy spell over the door.

"Now leave my house if you are done with the boy", Mr Dursley half shouted.

Snape could feel the anger rise, but knew he had to control it, and come back later. He couldn't leave a scared child in the hall.

"I am taking Harry with me and you don't have to expect him back, you clearly didn't understand what raising a child means."

"We gave him food, clothes, sent him to school, he is only a burden while we give him everything he needs", Mr. Dursley replied angrily.

"I will see you later Dursleys" and so Snape walked back to the hallway. He half expected Mr. or Mrs. Dursley to follow him, but they remained sitting on the couch. Harry was standing with a plastic bag in his hand, looking around scared.

"We are going Mr. Potter". Snape walked to the door but Harry remained standing where he stood.

When Snape turned around he saw that Harry hadn't moved.

"What is it Mr. Potter?", Snape asked impatiently.

I" am not sure that my aunt and uncle think it's okay if I leave the house sir, " Harry replied.

"Mr. Potter, you don't have to worry about that, I have already spoken to them and they agreed with me."

Harry slowly followed Snape and they walked outside. "Now take my arm and we will apparate to Hogwarts". Harry took Snape his arm and they arrived outside of the wards of Hogwarts. Harry fell on the floor and started vomiting. This wasn't unusual for kids who did side along apparition, and Snape waited for when Harry would stop. However when Harry stopped vomiting, he collapsed to the ground and went unconscious.

 **Reviews would be highly appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks to the two people who made the effort to write a review! Two more than I expected that's awesome. This chapter was a bit rough two write cause it contained a lot of fact talk and no real interaction between Harry and Severus. I do plan to have more interaction between them in the next chapter of course!**

 **\- It would be highly appreciated IF** **, no WHEN you come across any obvious/annoying grammar mistakes** **to write them in a review. I can only do the best that I as a native Dutch speaker am capable of and will remove the mistakes :) -**

Snape saw the child fall. _What happened now? A child never collapse?_ He quickly picked the boy up and rushed to the hospital wing. At moments like these he hated those blasted anti-apparition wards. What if the child was dying in his arms? In all the years he had been a potion teacher no one in his classroom had had anything worse than a burn, but now this child might possible die from side along appiration with him? Snape swore another time under his breath, but kept on running. He only hoped that Poppy was back from here holiday in France.

Soon enough when he ran into the hospital wing he saw Poppy making one of the beds.

"Poppy, please give me a hand" he shouted from the door of the hospital wing.

Poppy spined around and looked shocked at the child that Snape had in his hands. While Poppy was obviously trying to figure out what had happened Snape put Harry on the nearest bed. He started a quick diagnostic spell, but stopped when Poppy cast a more advanced diagnostic spell on Harry.

"Who is this and what happend Severus" Poppy asked, while looking at the list of results that was appearing in front of her.

"This here is Mr. Potter, I just took him from his abusice relatives to Hogwarts through side-along apparation. When we landed at Hogwarts Mr. Potter started vomiting and soon after that collapsed."

The list with results finally finished and Snape saw Poppy's face get more white while reading it.

"What is it Poppy?"

"The list of results shows nothing immediately life threatening, but Mr. Potter has several health problems that have to be treated, some of them immediately or he might not make it. It's even a wonder that the child made it to the hospital wing. Besides a long list of never proper healed bones, he also is severe malnourished. As a result of years of lack of proper feeding he is really small in both height and weight. The child has only a height of 1.28m and weights no more than 23 kg. "

These results shocked Snape quite a bit. Sure he had seen that the child was small, but this?

"Will he be able to get back to full health ,Poppy?"

"With the right treatment? Probably, however the recovery will be rather long, and require quite some effort of him. He also might never reach his full height that he would have had when proper fed."

"We should probably floo call Albus and let him know Mr. Potter is here. If you start healing him in the mean time?" Snape asked, knowing that Albus wouldn't be happy if he didn't let him know that Harry was here.

" Sure no problem, just ask Albus to floo to my office, so we can discuss the results and treatment"

Snape walked to Poppy her office so and floo called Albus, asking him to come over.

Not even 2 minutes later the three of them were sitting around Poppy's desk.

"So Severus, tell me from the beginning what happened when you visited young Mr. Potter?"

" Well as agreed I would do the big check-up for Mr. Potter this time. When I was in the house I was met by the uncle of Mr. Potter, who didn't seem all that happy that I was there, but called Mr. Potter for me eventually." _I wasn't happy to be there either, but okay._ "When I asked Mr. Potter where his room was he showed me the cupboard where he was living in. Can you believe that Albus? A cupboard! Of course I had already seen how small the child was, but I only realised how bad it was when I saw the bruises on his arm and he flinched when I wanted to have a look at them. "

" And you were sure this all wasn't, because he had been a bit clumsy at the playground? And James Potter wasn't that big when he first came to Hogwarts as well, remember?"

At hearing the name of his youth enemy Snape felt himself becoming angry, but before he had the change to say anything Poppy already spoke up

"Albus have you even seen the child? It's clear the boy is abused!" She took the list of results and showed them to Albus. While Albus read over the list the sparkle left his eyes.

"Okay it is obviously that Harry can't remain with his relatives, even though it's very dangerous for him to leave the blood, but from the results it's clear that he isn't much safer the house of his relatives. Now Severus where would you suggest we place the boy?"

He saw the sparkle coming back in Albus his eyes. _Well the Weasleys already had enough children and didn't need another child with special needs, the Malfoy's had played too big of a roll in the last war and weren't and option either._ " Maybe Minerva?"

"Ah Severus you say something there, but you can't forget that as a Deputy Headmistres,Head of House and teacher she doesn't have much time left to care for Harry. I was actually thinking that you would be the right person Severus"

 _He must have gone mad after all_ " Surely Albus you can see that I am not the right person to raise the spawn of James Potter? "

"You and he are more alike than you might think my dear boy, and you must not forget that he is the son of Lily as well."

" Surely there are other professors who can take him in and can offer the child more than me"

This time it was Poppy who spoke up " I agree with Albus, Severus. You would indeed be a good fit for Mr. Potter. He will need someone who is strict, but can show love. And after all I know what kind of friend you were for Lilly. I often saw you together walking around the lake in the early days."

 _In that aspect she was right, he and Lilly had been really good friends. And he had promised to protect the boy._

"Do it for me my boy. Give Harry the change I could never offer you"

At that Severus agreed, he knew himself how it was to have a not horrible childhood and wanted to save the child of making the mistakes he had made himself as a result of his experience.

"Okay, I will do it, however if I raise Mr. Potter I will be the one who makes the rules for the boy and sets punishment without interference of you guys. I will try to think of the boy as a child of Lily and not only as a child of James and offer him the support he needs. I would however ask your assistance Poppy, with getting him back to optimal health. I would also ask you to help me think of an idea what I can do with the boy during the day when I have go back to teaching Albus, but we can do that in a week or so."

"Of course we will help you Severus" was the quick answer of Albus. " However if you wouldn't mind I will leave you and Poppy alone to discuss the health of Mr. Potter, because I have an appointment at the Ministry. I will speak of the arrangements made with you later Poppy." And with that Albus walked to the floo and disappeared.

"Okay Severus, I will make a copy of the results and give it to you. You should go to bed now and get some sleep. The boy will have no use of you if you are half asleep. Besides that Mr. Potter will sleep through the night anyway given the amount of sleeping draught I gave to him. I would however ask you to brew some nourishment potions and take them with you and then meet me at 7.30 AM in my office. I will make sure to have a draft of a treatment plan for the obvious health issues, but we will figure more out tomorrow"

"Sure Poppy, I could indeed use some sleep. I will meet you here tomorrow at 7.30 sharp"

 _Of course he wouldn't go to bed right now since it was only 10 PM and he had way too much to think about. Like why again had he accepted the Potter boy?_

 **Next up: How will Harry react when Severus tells him he is his new guardian? And what support/treatment will Harry need to regain full health?**

 **Reviews would be very much appreciated and make my day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: As promised a new chapter, with more development between Snape and Harry, I hope I can really get into their relationship and Harry's problems more deeply after this chapter, because I had the feeling I had to fight through this chapter.**

 **To the reviewer that sent me a review, thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!**

 **-Dutch Native Speaker, sorry -**

Surely the next morning Snape was Waiting in Poppy's office at exactly 7.30am. Before he arrived in her office he had quickly checked up on Harry, but as expected he was still asleep.  
Snape took a seat across from Poppy and put the three nourishment potions that he had made that morning on her desk. The potion itself was quite simple to make, so he was able to brew them this morning before breakfast.  
"Ah Severus, good to see you've brought the potions with you." Madame Pomphrey said, looking up from her paperwork "I would like to discuss a few things with you about bringing Mr. Potter back to full health. Of course only time can show us how his health will develop and how he'll react to the treatment, but a few things are already clear. Mr. Potter is severely malnourished and will have to take 2 doses of nourishment potion per day for the first week. You know I'm not a great fan of these potions, but in the case of Mr. Potter it's really needed. "  
Severus found himself agreeing, he wasn't a great fan of nourishment potions either, and wanted Harry to regain full strength, mainly by eating more, but he knew it was better for him to at least gain a little strength again.  
"Besides these potions, he will have to slowly build up his portion size. He will have to eat 3 main meals per day, and at least 2 healthy snacks." Poppy advised "You have to understand, that in the beginning he won't be able to eat much, but with time he should slowly eat more. You should also encourage him to eat a little more than he wants to, otherwise his appetite will never increase"  
"Okay that seems reasonable, I will make sure the boy gets ample nutrition." Severus replied "What about the damage done to his bones?"  
"That's the next thing I wanted to bring up," Poppy said, adjusting her seat, "I have been able to repair most of the damage done, but I will have finish healing him in about a week's time. To do it now would be too risky, since it takes quite a lot of energy from him, and I don't believe he'll be up to it until then. Another thing I discovered is that Mr. Potter has a lot of bruises and swollen strains, particularly on his back. These need to be carefully tended to and he will need a salve to be applied on his back daily. I would recommend doing it in the evening, before bed, as it's known to make the patient quite drowsy. "  
"Okay Poppy, I can do that. Is there anything else about his physical health that I need to know for now?" Severus asked.  
"For now, that's it." Poppy replied "Severus I really need to emphasize that you need to give Mr. Potter time to adjust. He is probably not used to proper care and won't know what to expect"  
"Alright Poppy" Snape sighed, although he had never raised a child himself, he had been teacher and head of house for several years and surely knew how to take care of a child, even if that child had some problems. "I will make sure to take proper care of him, when will Mr. Potter wake up?"  
"Quite soon, I expect. I will give you some time together, and after I have done a last check-up you can take him to your quarters"  
"Thank you Poppy" Severus replied, gratefully.  
With that Snape stood up, brushing invisible dust from his robes and walked out of the door transfiguring a chair so he could sit next to the boy.  
While he was deep in thought about how he could approach the child, Harry began to stir.  
"Ah Mr. Potter, I see you decided to join us"  
 _Who is that? Where am I_? Harry slowly opened his eyes and saw a man in black robes sitting next to him. He started to remember what had happened and immediately sat up and looked around for an escape.  
Severus, knowing why the boy was scared, tried to calm Harry down. "It's okay Mr Potter, I am Professor Snape, a teacher at Hogwarts. You collapsed yesterday after we apparated here and I took you here, to the Hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey did a diagnostic spell, and saw things that needed to be healed, so she started last night. Most of it is okay now, but we still need to take care of some things, but we don't need to worry about that now. As I said I am a teacher at Hogwarts as well as your new guardian".  
He saw Harry start to move around in his bed at that statement, but continued explaining thinking he just had to adjust to hearing all this.  
"As my ward you will live in my quarters. School will start in 2 weeks' time in which time the other children will come to school as well. Since I am a teacher here, I will be busy during the day. As you know you're too young to attend Hogwarts, so we still have to figure out what you will do during the day when I'm teaching, though I'm sure we can come up with a solution." He saw the child becoming red. Surely he wasn't going to complain that Severus had to go back to teaching? However a quick glance at Harry identified the problem. 'Of course, how stupid had he been, the child had been asleep for 12 hours, of course had to go to the toilet. But why can he not just ask'  
"Ah Mr Potter that's not a problem, I should have known that you had to go. Next time you can just tell me, so we don't have this little problem. I will just go to Madame Pomprey's office and grab some clean sheets". Snape quickly walked to Poppy's office to get the new sheets, but when he came back to Harry's bed the child was gone. He saw movement at the end of the ward and had quite an idea where Harry had gone.  
 _'Already having the tendency to run away, just another James'_ he thought, annoyed.  
He quickly strode to where the boy had gone and in a few steps he was standing behind Harry.  
Harry felt someone grabbing his shoulder and flinched, but did not dare to turn around.  
"I am sorry, Sir, I will clean it all myself, just please don't h- hit me" Harry said while curling in on himself in an effort to make himself as small as possible.  
 _The boy thought I would go and hit him, just because he wetted himself? Those Dursleys were going to have a hard time when he could get his hands on them.._  
"Mr. Potter, I know you will have a hard time believing this, but what your relatives did to you is not normal. A child should never have to endure abusive behaviour from anyone, especially not from the people that are designed to take care of you. Now please come back to the Hospital Wing, so I can continue to tell you about what to expect from now on."  
Without even a glance at the professor Harry walked back to his bed. Sure, Harry knew how he was treated by his relatives wasn't normal, but then again he wasn't normal either; he was nothing more than a dumb freak.  
"Now Mr. Potter I will show you how much more easily this could have been fixed if you had just stayed here and waited for me to retrieve fresh sheets."  
Snape grabbed his want and with a flick of his wrist the clean sheets were on the bed and the dirty sheets were flying towards the laundry basket.  
All this was carefully followed by the eyes of Harry. _What was this? What this like a kind of magic trick, like these ones that Dudley always tried to pull off, but failed at?  
_ Harry's curiosity won over from his fear "What is this, Sir?" Immediately after he said this he put his hands over his mouth and looked terrifyingly at the stern professor. He should not have asked this, at home he wasn't allowed to ask questions either, so why would he be allowed to ask them now?  
Snape had already seen the confused look in the boy's eyes, but couldn't figure out why he was looking that way.  
At Harry's question Snape had to think, _Could this child possibly not know about his magical inherence? And what is it with that scared look?_ "Just a simple levitation and switch charm, Harry, and please do not be afraid to ask questions." Snape attempted to calm the child with his voice. "I am not like your relatives. I am actually quite happy if children ask questions, that means they are trying to understand something" mentally emphasising the word trying, since most children were dunderheads, who were distracted by something else half way his explanation.  
Again Harry's curiosity won over from his fear, "A charm, Sir?" This time his hand didn't go to his mouth, but he still wasn't sure the Professor wouldn't hit him for this and still looked up at Severus with scared eyes. .  
"Yes Mr. Potter, a charm, you know the thing that happens when you make a movement with your wand and say the correct words?" Snape queried.  
When Snape saw that Harry only looked more confused he drew the conclusion that the boy obviously didn't know about the magical world at all.  
"Can I assume that you don't know that you are a wizard Mr Potter?"  
Harry nodded his head and Snape sighed, now he did not only have to support the boy, he also had to introduce Harry to the magical world.  
"Okay Mr. Potter, can you please climb on the bed, this is going to be a lot of information, but I do need your full attention.  
Harry climbed in the hospital bed and curiously looked at the professor. _Had he just said wizard? That's only something in books wasn't it?_  
And so Snape explained the most important things of the magical world to Harry: how Hogwarts worked and how James and Lilly Potter had died.

 **Review would be appreciated again, anything is welcome, comments about how you dislike it or comment that you do to like it. The next chapter will probably be up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and will go further into exploring the relationship between Snape and Harry and Harry's problems.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: It did become Saturday, I am sorry. I finally got the change to go a little bit more of the stuff that I had to go through and can start slowly with what I have in my head to write. I hope you will enjoy it!**

 **A shootout to KittyKatwithasword09 , who edited the last chapter for grammar and idiom mistakes without me even having to ask it. You are amazing!**

 **-Dutch Writer-**

While walking to Snape's quarters both Snape and Harry were deep in thought, Harry about what Professor Snape had just told him and Snape about how he could make Harry comfortable around his house. He decided that he should probably purchase a book about taking care of abused children. He also decided that he should probably not use too much magic in his quarters for now. The child had already so much to get used to, and if he would use magic the boy might go crazy.

Snape entered the quarters and let the boy in. Harry looked with wide eyes around the room. The professor had quite a spacious house for someone who lived in a dungeon. From where he was standing he could see a kitchen with a dinner table and a fireplace with a cosy looking couch next to it. He could also see a hallway with a closed door.

" Come in Mr. Potter. I will give you a tour through the house and show you your bedroom".

"Yes, sir." Harry still wasn't sure how much to say and kept quiet so the professor wouldn't get annoyed with him right from the start.

Snape showed him the kitchen, living room, and a large library. "And this Mr. Potter is my bedroom, if the door is closed you can knock on the door and I will call you in, or I will come outside. The door next to mine is your bedroom. Go and have a look".

Harry opened the door, _What had the professor just said? His bedroom? Was this real?_ Something in his mind told Harry that he was dreaming, but when he pinched himself he didn't wake up. He walked into the room and looked around. The room had a nice soft green colour, with a four poster bed. The curtains on the bed were silver and matched the green. Next to one of the walls was a large closet, which was probably meant for clothes. His room also contained a desk, a chair and an empty bookcase.

"Do you like it Mr. Potter?" Snape asked after he had given Harry some time to look around.

" Yes, Sir. I really do like it , but is this really **my** bedroom?" Harry still couldn't believe that the professor had told him he did not have to live with his relatives anymore, let alone believe that he was going to have his own bedroom.

"Of course, it's important for children to have a space where they can be alone. Your room will also be a place where you can study."

"That's amazing Sir, thank a lot."

"No problem child, no problem".

"However it's almost ten a clock, and you still haven't had breakfast, I can't have you only here for a day and let you already starve, so you will have breakfast now."

Normally Snape would call one of the house elves to bring him some food, but it seemed better to him if Snape did not shock the boy by having his breakfast delivered by house elves.

Harry couldn't be happier; he was used to getting one meal, two meals if he was lucky, a day, so he was quite happy to get some food. Especially since it had been a day since the last time he ate.

"Have a seat on the table, while I will make you some breakfast."

Harry did what he was told and had another look around the room. He was sure he would be able to live here. Although he probably wouldn't be living here for very long, since the professor would get annoyed with Harry soon enough, even though the professor had explained that his 'freakiness' was just accidental magic.

Not even 5 minutes later Snape came back with porridge and French toast for Harry, making sure not to make something too heavy for Harry' stomach which still had to get used to proper feeding.

Harry gratefully took the food from Snape and started eating.

After 10 minutes of silence Harry was halfway through his breakfast, but couldn't have anymore.

"I am sorry, Sir. I really can't have any more" Harry carefully said.

He was quite disappointed with himself, he was really hungry when he had started breakfast, but now he had barely eaten half of it. He wanted more, since he wasn't quite sure he was going to get more today, but was quite afraid that he would throw up if he had any more.

Snape wasn't that happy either with the amount Harry had eaten, since he had already given him only a small portion, he didn't think the child was lying however and brought the remaining food to the kitchen.

Walking back from the kitchen he motioned Harry to the couch and put on the fire with his wand. That he wasn't performing magic for breakfast didn't mean he wouldn't use it for small tasks. Otherwise, the boy would never get used to magic. Harry looked fascinated while Snape performed the spell and wondered if he would be able to do that himself one day as well.

"Well Mr. Potter, I hope you understand that there will be rules, while you live with me".

Harry glanced at the stern looking Professor and only hoped the rules wouldn't be as bad as the rules at the Dursleys.

"I will write them out and leave them in your room so that you can remind them."

Snape grabbed a paper and started writing "The first rule is to always let me know where you are, you may explore the building the two weeks that there are no students, but I always want to know where you plan on going, so that I know where to find you if I need you. The second rule is to go to bed at a reasonable time, we will set bedtime at nine o'clock, but that may change in 2 weeks time when I have to start teaching again. The third rule and last rule, for now, is that I want you to study at least one and a half hour every day, I will show you this afternoon where the library is and get you a book on introduction to the magic world. I will also get you some proper books that will prepare you for your first year at Hogwarts. Do you understand these rules?"

"Yes sir, I understand them" Harry said, he was relieved that the rules weren't bad at all. He was actually quite touched that someone cared to know where he was or what he learned.

"Okay then you may start to unpack your bag in your room and when you are finished we will walk to the library."

"Yes, sir"

Harry walked to his room; he was quite excited to see it again. When he entered he walked to his bed and went to lay on it. It was perfect; he still couldn't believe it. He had wished so many times that someone would rescue him from the Dursley, and now someone had!

Harry jumped off the bed and took the bag with clothes and stuff he had taken from the Dursleys. It wasn't much, but he still was happy to give it a place in his room.

After 10 minutes Harry was done and walked back to the living room.

"Ah, Mr. Potter I see you are ready? We can walk to the library then." Snape had just through owl delivery ordered two books on how to raise an abused child and hoped that they would arrive this afternoon.

"Follow me Mr. Potter" and so Snape and Harry walked to the massive library. Harry looked with big eyes around the castle, from the moving stair to the moving paintings. Magic really was amazing!

When they entered the library, Snape walked straight to the books that were mainly used for muggle studies. He didn't have to look long for the book he needed, introduction to the magical world, the book was called. "This Mr. Potter should explain quite a bit about our world."

Harry took the book gratefully, he was quite excited to learn about the world about the world where his parents had lived in and the world he was going to live in.

With the book in Harry's hand they walked with a different route back to Snape's quarters.

They walked past a big door which had a massive room behind it, with four really large tables. "This is the Great Hall, normally when there are students here they sit at one of the four tables and at the end of the hall is where all the staff of Hogwarts sits. From tomorrow on we will have dinner here, because it's holiday only the staff will be there." "Okay, Sir" Harry had quite some questions, but didn't dare to ask them, since he was taught not to ask questions.

When they arrived back to the quarters Snape announced he had to go work on his lesson plan and would do that at the dinner table, but that Harry could start on reading the book. "And don't forget if you have any questions just ask them."

"Yes, sir" and so Harry started reading. The next half hour was spent in silence; Snape sometimes looked up at the child how he was going. He thought it was quite remarkable that Harry had so far only read three pages, while he had had more than enough time to read at least 10 of them, but decided not to ask now why he didn't read any faster, hoping that it was not because of a lack of interest.

Not much later Harry spoke up: "Professor Snape?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"I have a question about something on this page."

"And what may that be?"

"Well it says here that purebloods have two magical parents, but you told me that I was a half-blood even though both my parents were wizards."

Snape was quite sure there was more information in that paragraph that would explain his question, so he decided to let Harry figure that himself out. "Can you read the paragraph about half-bloods for me out loud please Mr. Potter?"

Harry got nervous, he wasn't used to reading out loud but decided to better do what Snape had told him. Halfbloods: If a per- personne has one mag- mag- magic- magical par- parent.

"Why Mr. Potter are you stuttering like this?" Snape asked annoyed

Harry's face became red and felt tears starting behind his eyes "Sorry, sir. Nevermind my question."

"No, you know how I think about questions and I am happy you asked it, but first I want an aswer on my last question Mr. Potter."

Harry swallowed another time, hoping his voice wouldn't sound too bad. "I really try my best sir, it's just my aunt and uncle didn't think I was worth the practice and my uncle can be quite intimidating, and so teachers didn't want to help me either, afraid that my uncle would so something that would get them fired."

 _They never taught the boy to proper read? The boy must have learned to read at school, but he knew that without sufficient practice you never become great at something._ Snape sighed "Okay Mr. Potter, it's not your fault, however at Hogwarts we expect that every child has had a proper education, and so we have a year to make sure you can read well enough. "

Harry smiled a bit; he had always liked to learn new things, but even if he tried to read a book in class, he was never a fast enough reader to finish it before he had to hand the book back in. _Maybe if he learned to read faster he was able to go to the massive library and borrow a book some day_ , Harry thought excited.

Snape didn't miss the small smile on Harry's face and was happy that the child was at least happy to learn to read better. _It must have been annoying for himself as well, he assumed that the boy never had a chance to read a book at home, but at least at school he should have been able to read a book now and then, but if the boy wasn't a fast reader, he probably never had the chance to finish it._

Snape wasn't excited at the prospect that he probably had to help Harry to read better, when he had been in muggle school he hadn't liked reading much, he liked writing and maths better.

 _You know what, I will invite Albus for lunch and then he can help me think of how to teach the child to read properly. He might also have an idea what he could do with the boy when Snape himself had to go back to teaching._

"Harry, can you set the table please, so we can have lunch?"

"Yes, sir."

While Harry, excited that he would get a second meal, grabbed some plates from the kitchen, Snape floo called Albus.

"Ah Albus good to see that you are there, would you care to join use for lunch."

"That would be nice.I will finally be able to meet young Harry. If you would allow me to step through Albus."

 **AN: Next up: How will Harry react to Albus? And with what idea will Albus come for Harry to spend his time during the day in 2 weeks time?**

 **As always reviews would be appreciated! If you have something that you think would be a great idea to have in the story as well, just sent me a message and I will see how it fits!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for a long time between the updates, as many of you have probably noticed as well, the script release of Harry Potter and the cursed child was Sunday. Of course I wanted the script as soon as possible, and was able to get my hands on it Monday evening, besides the book I have a holiday job, which keeps me busy till 5 PM, so it took me quite a while to finish this book (finished it about 2 hours ago) and now my head is full of thoughts about the book. I won't give any spoiler, so everyone has the chance to read it for him/herself, but it's so different than I imagined! Not in a bad way or so. Well, I will stop this authors, note, and give you the chapter, but if anyone wants to talk about the script, feel free to messages me!**

 **P.s Thanks to everyone who took the time to review it! It's amazing that I reached the ten reviews! Also thanks to the people who corrected my grammar or miss used words.**

When Harry came back with two plates, he saw a large man with purple robes standing in the living room. He started to panic, who _was this man? Was this man going to take him back to the Dursleys?_

Before Albus had even a chance to say anything, Harry ran in his state of panic to his room and dropped the plates on the floor.

Snape sighed, _the child had more troubles than he had initially thought when he picked Harry up from the Dursleys._ " Excuse me, Albus; I am going to have a look why my ward just dropped everything and ran to his room."

"Of course, my boy, do remind that the boy most likely isn't used to strangers and was just scared from my sudden appearance."

With that in mind Snape walked to Harry his room.

When he entered the room he saw Harry packing a plastic bag with clothes while softly crying.

"And what do you think that you are doing Mr. Potter?"

Harry hadn't realised that the Professor had entered his room and tried to control his tears. _Why was he even so upset, he had known from the start that his stay here wouldn't last long since he was only a burden, but one way or another he quite liked the stay at the professor his quarters even though he had only been here for half a day._ "I am sorry for breaking the plates sir; I am packing my things and then I will leave."

Snape sighed, how was he going to convince the boy that he was not going to send him back to his horrible relatives. He decided to start using his first name, which would hopefully make him more relaxed. " I am not going to send you back Harry, I have promised to give you a home and I do certainly not mind you staying here." He saw Harry relax a bit at the use of his first name and was happy he had decided to change the way he called him.

"Yes we are going to have to get used to each other, but it doesn't mean every time I speak to someone else or every time that I have to help you with something I want to send you back to your relatives."

"Really sir?"

"Really Harry."

Harry smiled a bit at this, A few minutes ago he was sure he was going to be sent back to his relatives, and that he was allowed to stay _for now_ made him feel more relaxed. "Sorry for running away sir."

"That's not a problem Harry, you have barely been here for a day and still have to adjust, however next time you have a problem with something or feel scared just talk to me, instead of running to your room. If you had come to me with your concerns, I would have explained to you that Professor Dumbledore is the headmaster of this school and wanted to meet you. He is just here for lunch so he can get to know you."

"Are you ready to come for lunch with us and meet him, Harry?"

"Yes sir, I am ready," Harry said while rubbing the last tears from his face aways.

Albus had repaired the plates and had set the table; he also had the house elves bring some lunch, so when Snape and Harry entered the room, they could immediately join Albus at the dinner table.

"Ah young Harry, I see that I frightened you with my arrival? I am sorry for that boy; I didn't mean to do that."

"That's okay sir; I am sorry that I ran away. I drew to soon a conclusion" Harry said with one eye at Professor Snape, who gave an approving nod.

"Well let's start lunch then," Snape said

And so the three of them had lunch together. Albus made some small talk with Snape, and tried to ask Harry some questions. However Harry did not respond with much more than the shortest answer possible.

Albus decided to give it up and just continue mainly talking to Snape.

When lunch was over, Albus and Snape wanted some privacy to talk, and Snape told Harry to go and have a look around Hogwarts.

"Be however home in one and a half hour. "

He gave Harry a small watch that used to be his when he was a kid; he also gave Harry a basic map of Hogwarts that he always gave his Slytherin first years at the beginning of the year.

When Harry left Albus and Snape took a seat in the living room.

"How is it going Severus. No major troubles yet so far?"

"Well Albus, I have only had him for a little bit less than a day, but have already discovered some small struggles. Starting off with, the child can barely read. I asked him to read a part of the introduction to the wizard world out loud, and he had the biggest struggles to read the first part of the paragraph.

"And you are sure he wasn't just nervous to read it out loud?" Albus asked.

"Yes I am sure, when I asked him why he was struggling, he told me that nobody ever wanted to help him, because his uncle was too intimidating."

"Ah, well that's then indeed a problem, but problems are there to solve. Have you thought yet of what you are going to do with Harry once you have to start teaching again?" Albus asked, with the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"That's another problem I wanted to discuss, but can I assume you have a solution for both problems? Severus asked. He was quite curious what his (former) mentor had come up with.

"Well an old friend of mine, he owns a school in the north of Scotland, for children with a special needs. The friend I am talking about is a squib, so there should be no problems with explaining the situation our young Harry is in. The school I am talking about has classes with a few people; Harry can be with some children his same age, while catching up and completing muggle primary school.

"But Albus, as far as I am concerned Harry does not have special needs, besides his struggle with reading?"

"The school is just meant for children, who for one or another reason aren't able to keep up with a normal muggle school, pupils at this school are taught more intensive, through smaller classrooms and more lesson hours a day. Some students will only be here for 1 or 2 years, which would be most likely the amount of time Harry would have spent at the school, had he not been a wizard. These kids are kids, who have fallen behind at school for one reason or another like students who have trouble keeping up all the time will start at this school in class 1 and finish primary school at this school. Another reason why I suggest that you sent him there is, because the principal is a squib. That gives you the advantages of explaining the situation Harry is in and gives you the opportunity to have a spot to apparate in.

"I see what you mean Albus, and how would I be able to enrol Harry in this school?"

"I will send the principle a message, and he will probably make an appointment with you."

"Thanks, Albus, this seems indeed like a good idea, and a good opportunity for Harry to meet some people of his same age as well."

"If you wouldn't mind, I have to go to a meeting with someone from the Daily Prophet."

"Thanks, Albus, I will see you later."

When Albus was gone, Snape decided to make some tea and ask for some fruit from the house elves, so that he could have tea with Harry in more or less 15 minutes, when Harry would come home.

About 10 minutes later Harry stepped through the door.

"Ah Harry, I assume your trip through Hogwarts was fine."

Harry tried to control his excitement; magic really was amazing, "Yes sir; It was helpful in learning more about the wizard world."

"Why don't you join me for a cup of tea and a nice snack and tell me what you have explored so far."

Harry wasn't used to anyone being interested about his day and so wasn't sure where to start.

Not being too comfortable around a new guardian Harry wanted to say as little as possible, even though he was actually quite excited.

"Well, I discovered that paintings can actually talk and not only move. I even had a conversation with one, the fat lady I think she called herself; she said I might join the house whose dorms she protects. I am not sure what they are called anymore however"

Gryffindor is the house you are looking for, but I am glad to hear that you enjoyed your time exploring, you will have the next two weeks more than enough time to explore the grounds of Hogwarts even more, I might even join you one day so I can give you a better idea of the history of Hogwarts." _And to make sure you don't talk to that painting again... Trying to get him in sorted into Gryffindor before he even starts school._

"I would like to discuss another matter with you." He saw the panic rise behind the eyes of Harry. "No Harry, not every time I want to discuss something with you I am going to tell you that you have to go back to your relatives because I am your guardian and I will stay your guardian, at least till you are of age." He saw the boy relax a little at this. " I did, however, wish to discuss how you are going to spend your time during the day after the holidays.

You remember the headmaster who came over for lunch?" Harry nodded and Snap continued.

"Well he suggested that you go back to Muggle school." Leaving the word special out on purpose, so Harry would feel more comfortable with this idea "since it's another year until you can join Hogwarts and it would be good to have you learn to read better and do other muggle activities. How do you think about this idea?" Snape asked curiously

"That sounds like a fine idea, Sir" Harry said.

However Snape had been teaching for quite some time know and even if Harry wasn't an open book, he could quite easily tell when children were lying.

"I will add to the list of rules that lying is forbidden when we are done with this conversation Mr. Potter," Snape said in a stern voice.

"And now tell me what you really think about it."

Harry swallowed, he had tried to sound convincing, but that clearly didn't work with his new guardian.

"I am scared, Sir. I have always been bullied and never had any friends at my old muggle school."

Snape could see the reasoning behind this, but thought the reason was unfounded.

"And what do you think that the reason was for that Harry?" Snape asked, in the hope that Harry saw it was not his fault.

"Because I am a freak" Harry said in a small voice.

Snape sighed, raising this child was not going to be easy. "Harry if you say one more time that you are a freak you can give me 100 lines with: 'I am not a freak, but a normal boy.' However, Snape continued with his questions. Who was the main bully at your school?"

Harry thought about that for a minute, but the question wasn't too hard.

"My cousin sir."

"And who prevented you from having friends Harry?

"My cousin," Harry repeated.

"And who is not going to be at your new school Harry?"

"My cousin sir?" Harry repeated for the third time.

"10 points for team Potter, that was the answer I was looking for, your cousin will indeed not be at your new school Harry."

Harry grinned at this, who would have thought this stern man could be funny sometimes as well.

"Any other unfounded reasons to not go back to school Harry?"

"No sir, I don't think so."

"Shall I make an appointment with the principal of the school then?"

"That would be nice, sir" Harry said not fully confident, but certainly not as scared as before.

 **I hope you enjoyed it Reviews are appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Anybody got tickets for the cursed child? I got mine at 11.30 PM finally after having been in the queue for 11.30 hours, but I am really happy.**

 **Well anyway, here is the new chapter, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last one!**

The next day Snape let Harry sleep in for a bit, since the day before had been quite stressful and full of events. Harry, still being asleep, gave Snape the chance to read the books he had ordered. They had only come in last night, so he had not really had a chance to read them yet. However, the part he had read so far was quite useful he thought. It was obvious that the process of healing wasn't a straight line up, but would contain ups and downs, but Snape was prepared to help Harry with this.

Snape had just finished the chapter about structure, when Harry softly opened the door.

"Ah Harry, I see you are awake, how did you sleep?"  
"I haven't slept this good for ages sir, thank you", Harry said with a half smile on his face.  
Snape wasn't surprised; he could only imagine what size bed would fit in a small cupboard like the one Harry had slept in. The boy had also looked exhausted yesterday, so that would contribute to it as well.  
"Glad to hear that, Harry. Why don't we have a simple breakfast and after that head for the infirmary? Madame Pomfrey requested to do another check up. We can have a look after that how we are going to spend the rest of the day."  
"Okay, sir. Shall I set the table?" Harry wasn't excited to go to the infirmary, but didn't think he would be able to get rid of the appointment.  
"If you wouldn't mind, after that I will show you the way most wizards and witches get their food."  
While Harry set the table, Snape put the book he was reading securely away.  
When Harry was finished, Snape walked over to him.  
"Have you read the part about house elves yet Harry?" He knew Harry had read for a bit before he went to bed, but he wasn't sure how far he had come yet.  
"No sir, I haven't yet. I stopped reading at the part … (?), before I went to bed."  
"Well I will try to explain it then. Food is one of the few things that a wizard can't transfigure; that's why most people have a house elf working for them. These house elves are usually in service of one family, but like at Hogwarts, they are working for the school. Every teacher at Hogwarts has one personal house elf assigned to him, who can bring him food if a teacher isn't up to having food in the Great Hall.  
My personal house elf is Sandy. If I call Sandy she will come and take my order and bring me some food. Would you like to meet Sandy?"  
"Yes sir." Said Harry curiously  
"Sandy, can you come please."  
Harry heard a pop and saw a small creature with rather big ears standing in front of him.  
"Sandy, meet Harry Potter. Harry, this is Sandy."  
"I am pleased to meet you Master Potter."  
Harry found it a bit uncomfortable being called Master, but didn't say anything about it.  
"I am pleased to meet you as well Sandy."  
"Can I do anything for you Master Snape?" Sandy asked  
"Harry and I would like some breakfast, some porridge with fruit and tea would do."  
"Of course master." And with a pop Sandy was gone.  
Harry still looked astonished at the place where Sandy had stood.  
"Fascinating creatures aren't they Harry? You will learn that we have many magical creatures that aren't known in the muggle world."  
A moment later, food …. On the table.  
"Ah let's have breakfast" Snape said, walking to the table. He wasn't used to eating late in the morning and was actually getting quite hungry.  
Harry didn't say much during breakfast and Snape was okay with that. He had read in the book that it could take up to a month for children to get adjusted to a new guardian, and so he would patiently wait for the moment Harry would start to adjust.

After breakfast, Snape and a reluctant Harry walked to the infirmary.  
Harry had tried to talk himself out of it, but Snape wasn't one for changing his mind and especially not with anything as important as this.  
When they arrived in the infirmary, Snape knocked on the office door and the mediwitch walked out.  
"Ah Professor Snape, Harry good to see you. I assume you are here so I can check up on young Harry?"  
"That's indeed the reason why we are here."  
"Well come and sit on the nearest bed Mr. Potter"  
Harry struggled climbing on the bed, but wasn't really succeeding due to the years of malnourished which caused Harry to be small and not particularly strong. Snape saw it and silently cast a spell to lower the bed a little bit. Harry now succeeded at climbing on the bed and Poppy gave him a small approving nod.  
I will quickly cast a diagnostic spell on you and after that I will do another couple of tests and then you can go.  
The tests altogether took no longer than 10 minutes. Harry patiently waited. The spells didn't hurt as he had expected, but felt rather ticklish.  
After Harry was done and Madame Pomfrey was happy with the results she released Harry under the condition that he would keep eating enough, take his potions and would come back next Sunday, so she could do another check up.

Snape and Harry took a seat at the kitchen table and Snape ordered some tea and fruit.  
"Why don't you go and read "Introduction to the wizarding world" for about an hour and when you are finished you can give me a summary of these chapters."  
"Okay sir."  
"And what do you do if you have any questions?"  
Harry's first thought was to say not to ask, but didn't think his new guardian would be happy with that answer. "Come and ask?" Harry asked.  
"That's right Harry. Don't be afraid to learn. Now go to your room and start reading." Snape said.  
Snape had seen the boy doubting how to answer his question, but was happy that the boy knew to come and ask questions.

While Harry was reading the book, Snape decided to go and make a schedule for Harry. He had read in his book that structure would benefit a child adjusting to a new guardian, and he did indeed think that it would help Harry knowing what to expect. While Snape was writing the schedule, Harry didn't come out of his room to ask a question. He was slightly disappointed, but hadn't expected anything else. The boy was taught not to ask questions, and these things didn't change in a day.  
However, just as Snape finished writing his schedule, Harry came out of his room. He had a red head and was sweating slightly.  
"Are you finished reading Harry?" Snape asked looking at his watch. He saw it was about one and a half hour since he had sent Harry to his room.  
"Yes sir, I am."  
"Well start your summary then."  
Harry started talking, explaining the differences between the types of wizards. While explaining, Harry started to stutter and became more and more sweaty.  
Snape was trying to figure out what was happening to Harry. Just when he wanted to stop Harry, Harry started to hyperventilate. Snape did not have much experience with this, but tried the best he could.  
"Calm down Harry, keep breathing, breath with me." And so Snape sat next to Harry while trying to calm him down. After about 10 minutes Harry's breathing became more normal, but now the first tears started streaming out of his eyes. Snape had even less experience with this. Students would never come and cry to the evil dungeon bat, but now he had a ten-year-old boy sitting next to him starting to cry. Snape didn't know what to do, but did the only thing that his intuition told him and that was to take the boy on his lap and let him cry for a bit.  
The crying slowly became less and he felt an even breathing boy on his lap. When he looked at Harry he saw that he had fallen asleep. Slowly Snape got up and lifted Harry to his bed. There he was, the evil dungeon bat was now lifting a ten-year-old boy to his bed, after having calmed him down for 20 minutes.

When Harry was in bed Snape decided to have a strong cup of tea and think about what he had learned from this. He also decided to keep a diary with things about Harry, things Harry should develop, things Harry liked and everything that Snape did not want to forget or wanted to work on. He started off with writing that Harry needed help with reading and the panic attack he just had. He started thinking what could have triggered it, but could not come up with another reason than insecurity. He wrote it down, put the diary down and started reading the book.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: A new chapter again, not too happy with it, but I hope next chapter will be better. Thanks to the people who took the effort to review the last one!**

There was a knock on the door; Snape looked up. _Who could that be?_ He wasn't expecting anyone. Reluctantly he stood however up and opened the door. To his surprise Minerva was standing behind the door.

"Ah Minerva, good afternoon. Should you not be in France, for a well deserved holiday? "

Snape wasn't this friendly with all his colleagues, but Minerva had been a great mentor and good friend for him, ever since the day he had decided to give up his duties for the dark lord and start spying for the light.

"That's indeed true Severus, but the weather wasn't great, so I decided to come back and start preparing for the new year and visit some friends back in England."

"Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?" Snape asked.

"That would be nice." Minerva agreed.

And so they started talking about Minerva her holiday, and how Snape had become the guardian of Harry. Minerva was shocked to learn how Harry his relatives had treated him. She didn't have a great feeling about them when she left Harry there 9-years ago, but had agreed with Albus that it was important for the blood wards. When she heard how his relatives had treated him however, she was upset and felt guilty that she had not come and checked on Harry more often. She had done the last big check up, and he seemed fine. She started wondering how she could have missed all of this.

"Lily and I still had a lot of contact after she had left Hogwarts, she always sent me letters, talking about Harry and everyday life. Sometimes she sent me photo's with the letters. I do have one particular nice picture of Lily and Harry on his first birthday, do you think he would like to have that?" Minerva asked, feeling guilty about how they had left him at the Dursleys for so long.

"I do think Harry would like that, I am not even sure he has a clue what Lily and James look like, to be honest." Snape said, with a slight sneer when he pronounced James.

"Harry is asleep right? Why don't you walk with me to my quarters, and have a look through some of the pictures? There aren't many pictures, but I do think Harry would be grateful to have them."

Snape agreed with her; he checked Harry's room, but the boy was still sound asleep, and would most likely sleep for another hour or otherwise he could always go and read in his book if he did wake up.

Harry woke up. _Why was he in bed? It was the middle of the day_.

Slowly the events of the afternoon started coming back and he felt himself become embarrassed. Why had he cried like that on the Professor? He had never cried. Crying was not allowed for freaks. Freaks should just be silent and do what others told him to do. Sure it had been different, living at the Professor his house, but still, he wasn't worth to cry. Harry quickly decided to pack his stuff and try to sneak out of his guardian's house; his guardian would have a different thought on him staying there anyway and maybe if he was silent enough he could sneak away without the professor knowing it. Otherwise, he was most likely to get a beating, which was what he deserved, but not what he wanted.

It didn't take him longer than 5 minutes to pack all his stuff and put it in a plastic bag.

He silently opens his door, looking around for Professor Snape, when he didn't see him he was relieved. He could maybe avoidthe beating and just walk away.

He didn't know where he would go, but was glad when he was outside the quarters. He ran to where he thought the exit of the building had been. After a couple of long hallways he found a big door, which he could only assume was the exit. When he opened the door he saw a big green field. He was glad he had found the exit and could now walk away. Where to, he had no clue, but he was at least gone from the professors quarters.

When Snape came back to his quarters with some pictures, 2 of him had James in it to his annoyance, but Minerva had persuaded him that it would be good to know what James looked like as well, he saw that Harry's door was slightly open. Deciding he needed to talk to Harry about the events of the morning, he knocked on the half open door. When he didn't get a response he opened the door further. There was no Harry in his room. He turned around and looked through the rest of the quarters. Surely the boy had to be somewhere in his quarters? He reminded himself that Harry was not as spoiled as James was and was probably just looking if he could find a kitchen, since it had been a bit past lunch time. However, when he returned to Harry's room he saw that the door of the closet was slightly open. When he walked to it he saw that all of Harry's clothes, which weren't that many, were gone. He realised that the child had taken all of his stuff and had taken his leave/ ran away. He wasn't sure why, but assumed it had something to do with the panic attack Harry had had only an hour before.

Snape looked at his watch; Snape had only been gone for half an hour and when he left Harry was still deeply asleep so that the boy couldn't be far.

With a fast pace Snape left his quarters, going to look for the boy.

Harry walked in a fast pace, well actually it wasn't that fast, since he didn't have long legs, but at least he walked as fast as he could over the school grounds. He didn't know where he was going, but hoped to find a big gate that would lead to the outer world somewhere. He was just starting to wonder if he was ever going to find an exit and leave the school grounds when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"And where do you think you are going Harry?" Snape said in a stern voice.

Harry spun around, expecting to see eyes full of anger, but he couldn't spot any anger in his eyes, no other emotions for that matter, but no anger either as he had always seen in his uncle's eyes.

"I am really sorry sir, I was just leaving; I should not have acted the way I did and I should not have cried Sir, I am sorry." Harry said in a sad voice; he was not happy that the professor had found him. He had hoped to escape without getting a beating, but knew he had deserved it.

"Why don't we walk back to my quarters Harry and we will talk about what happened this morning and why you left."

He saw the child nod and walk with his head down to Snape's quarters.

Just before they entered the doors that led into the castle, Snape heard some snivelling from Harry.

Snape sighed, _Could he really not wait till they arrived at his quarters._ "What is it Harry?"

"Sorry sir, I just really..." and there Harry stopped, he knew he should not say what he had planned to say.

"What did you really Harry" Snape asked after he realised Harry was not going to finish.

"Never mind sir." Harry said.

And just before Harry wanted to walk again, Snape took his shoulders and looked him right in the eyes. "Harry what did you want to say?"

When Harry still didn't answer his question, he realised he was not going to get an answer. He did something he really did not favour doing on students or children, but needed to do, so he knew what was wrong with Harry.

Just a quick touch of legilimency was enough to discover that Harry was scared of the beating he expected to get and had hoped to escape before he got that.

"Harry, I will tell you this a hundred times if I must, till you finally get it. I am not going to beat you and that's a promise. I am not like your uncle, so you can stop being scared of that. Now we will talk about this more in my quarters, but for now, it's quite late what would you like for lunch?"

That was certainly not what Harry had expected, he also didn't know how the Professor had discovered what he had feared, but he did not have much time to think about that when the professor started talking again.

"Shall I order something then? " Snape asked when he didn't get an answer.

Harry nodded, he was still confused about what the professor had said. Was he really not going to get a beating?

"Sandy?" and with that a house elf popped in front of them.

"Could you get us something for lunch? Something that's not too heavy ,because we will be going out for dinner."

"Of course, master, shall I serve it in your quarters?"

"Yes please."

"Come Harry, let's walk to my quarters again."  
On the way to Snape quarters both didn't say a thing, but were deep in thoughts.

When they entered Snape's quarters a nice warm soup with some bread was served on the table.

"Let's have lunch and discuss what happened today." Snape said.

They both took a seat at the table and started eating.

"Okay let's start at the beginning, you were you in your room reading the first two chapters. Did you have any questions while reading it?"

"No sir" Harry responded, but obviously not sure about his answer

"I would not lie to me Mr Potter, so let me ask again and this time, I want an honest answer. Did you have any questions?"

"Sorry sir, yes sir. About chapter 2."  
"And why did you not come and ask them?"

"Because.. because freaks should not ask questions sir" Harry said in a soft voice.

"Harry" Snape sighed "What did I say if you would call yourself a freak?"

"That I had to write a hundred lines." Harry answered

"What did you have to write a hundred times?" Snape asked

"I am not a freak?" Harry half asked, half answered.

"That's correct, so tomorrow, you can give me a hundred lines with: I am not a freak."

"So next you have a question what do you do?" Snape asked hoping to make him understand that he should ask questions.

"Come to you and ask the question, sir" Harry said with a half smile, he wasn't happy that he had to write a hundred lines, but he was grateful that the professor cared about if he understood something.

"Okay, good. So you came out of your room, you were nervous from the start, but when you were halfway through explaining chapter 2 you started getting panicked. Why did you get panicked Harry"?

"Sorry sir" Harry only said.

"Harry that is not an answer. Why did you get panicked."

"Because I hadn't finished chapter 2, but it took me so long and I knew you were waiting and I really tried, sir" Harry said, with a lump in his throat. He felt the tears waiting behind his eyes to come out.

"Harry" Snape said in a soft voice. " Did you try to read it all?"

"Yes sir I did, really."

"So is it your fault that you did not finish the chapter within one and a half hour?"

"No sir, but."

"No nothing but Harry, you can do nothing more than try. We will work on the reading, but next time just take as long as you need. You know I was even going to get you if you had read for much longer. It's not good to study for so long without a break. What do you think of it, would you like to give it tomorrow another try, with chapter 2 and 3?"

Harry didn't answer; he was astonished. When the professor had found him outside on the grounds, he knew he was going to get it, but the professor was not even the slightest bit angry. "

"I assume that's a yes, I am However Harry with the fact that you ran away. You know the rules, I want to know if you leave my quarters. And you do not leave my quarters just to run away. You know I won't give you a beating like your uncle did, so yes you will be punished for it. Tonight,you will go half an hour early to bed." Snape said.

Secretly Snape knew this was not really a real punishment, since they would be going out for dinner and the boy would most likely be tired when they got home.

"Sorry, sir I will not do something like this again. " Harry said.

Snape knew that he had not got it in the boys head yet that Snape was nothing like his uncle, but someday he would, and until that time he just had to wait patiently and be fair with the boy.

"Good that's what I like to hear, Shall we go to Diagon Alley, which is a wizard city, after we have finished our lunch?" Snape asked.

Harry nodded happily, and with that all the events of the morning were forgotten.

 **AN: Next up, what did Harry think of Diagon Alley, and how will the interview the school principal go. Reviews are appreciated!**


End file.
